Speaking at the CFA Institute's annual conference in Montreal,
David Rubenstein, the founder of private equity firm The Carlyle
Group, argued that the key to success in the finance world is the
people you hire.

Notably, he argued that brilliance isn't necessarily a
great skill for the industry. “It’s very hard to manage brilliant
people,” he said, according to Diana Britton. “Every time I’ve
tried to hire brilliant people, it hasn’t worked out.”

Rather, he said that he looks for six attributes in
new hires starting with reasonable intelligence (rather than
brilliance), good work ethic, the ability to focus, the
ability to make oneself indispensable, the ability
to communicate well, and "well-developed" ethical
skills.

A new analysis from NerdWallet found that investment fees
can seriously cut down future savings. "Just like the
accelerating effect of compound interest has on the growth of
savings, the same thing happens — only in the opposite direction
— when investment fees compound," Dayana Yochim and Jonathan Todd
wrote.

NerdWallet played out different scenarios for a 25-year-old
investor who has $25,000 in a retirement account and adds $10,000
per year, earns a 7% average annual return, and wants to retire
in 40 years.

"In one of the scenarios analyzed, paying just 1% in fees would
cost a millennial more than $590,000 in sacrificed returns over
40 years of saving," the report notes. "A millennial with the
option of investing in either of two commonly held funds can save
nearly $215,000 in fees — and, through the magic of compounding,
retire nearly $533,000 richer — by choosing the one with fees
that are 0.93% lower."

Studies suggest that there's a correlation between aging and
cognitive decline — and this could affect the financial matters
of some individuals.

Some academic research suggests that older individuals lose some
of their financial literacy as they grow older, according to
Christopher Robbins. However, at the same time, these folks
remain as confident in their financial knowledge as before —
which makes addressing this issue a bit difficult.

"Municipal bonds issued in your home state are generally
exempt from state income taxes, while munis from other states are
usually subject to state income taxes.
... Limiting your muni holdings to in-state issuers
only may reduce your state income tax bill, but could also leave
you concentrated in issuers with similar risk
characteristics," note Cooper J. Howard and Rob Williams.

As such, the duo presents five examples when out-of-state munis
might make sense such as living in a state with low or
no income taxes, if economic conditions in your home state make
out-of-state munis more attractive, or if you could earn a higher
yield even without state tax breaks.